Roger Rookwoods and the Shadowy Stranger
by hopeguy10
Summary: Set in the US, taking place 19 years after Harry Potter, Roger Rookwoods discovers he is a wizard, meets the wizarding world, and attends Ilvermorny. Unfortunately a shadowy presence is following him, and it's up to him and his friends to figure it out.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **A Visit in Salem**

October was not Walden Rookwoods favorite month. A large man, standing over 6 feet tall, he made an imposing figure as he walked through the halls of Salem State University. He worked in payroll, at a desk in the corner of the office that did not have a single thing out of place on it. He enjoyed working with numbers, as they made sense to him, they were real and orderly. Walden liked order, as was evident by the way he dressed and composed himself. His mustache was perfect, not a single hair longer than another. His hair was short and business like, as a man should Walden felt. It was still a dark brown in color, but with a little bit of grey starting to show in the temples. He wore a suit and tie to work every day, and shook his head when he saw his co workers wearing jean on Fridays. Casual Fridays, what kind of nonsense was that. No, Walden did not stand for nonsense, and that was why he did not like October.

Living in Salem was terrific 11 months out of the year, but October brought out the crazies. People from all over would descend on his town thanks to accusations of a group of twelve year old girls over 300 years ago. Walden just could not understand the fascination, but he never really enjoyed Halloween even as a child. He didn't get the attraction of ignoring everything his parents had told him about taking candy from a stranger just because he was dressed up as a vampire or a ghost. The worst of it was how many grown men and women he saw, wearing costumes to look like a witch or a wizard.

"Doesn't anyone work anymore?" Walden wondered out loud to himself as he saw a group of teenagers walking down the street in robes of blue and cranberry. Some of the men, he noted with disgust, had long unkempt hair. This was 2007, not 1977, get a haircut you hippie he thought. The youth of today, they should be in school, not out walking the streets. Driving home from the University as quickly as possible to get away from the madness, his mind wandered to his sister Carol. She would probably be out there with the maniacs, along with her equally mad husband Ritchie Corner and their son Jacob, who would be 1 in November. Poor little fella, he thought, faced to live in a world of fantasy thanks to his crazy parents. Not how he would raise his children, twins who were already 1, Roger and Clara. They would grow up in a world of reality, knowing the world was a harsh place and you have to be tough to survive. He would do this with all the love in the world, but he would be tough, that was for sure.

Walden pulled on to his street, and was horrified to find a group of women walking down the street toward him, just a short distance from his home. They were wearing what looked to be robes similar to the ones those teenagers were wearing of all things, but they were all black, and they seemed to be looking for people to sign a petition or give them money. Walden wanted nothing to do with them, but they were standing at the corner waiting for him to get out of his car after he parked. He thought maybe he could wait them out, but they did not seem to be building, just standing there in their ridiculous getups. Walden tightened his grip on the steering wheel, composed himself, grabbed his briefcase and got out of the car quickly.

"No, no thank you, I'm all set," Walden said to the group as he went to get by them. "I'm quite fine without whatever it is you are trying to sell, thank you"

"Oh, but sir, we are not trying to sell anything," said the oldest woman among them, who must have been in her 60s. Far too old to be dressed this way, Walden thought. She was wearing a long black robe, with a green vest on the inside. She wore glasses that sat on the end of her nose, short curly white hair and spoke with a voice of authority, like a politician. Walden hated politicians, who seemed to think they knew everything and should keep order, but seemed to do nothing but create chaos. "We are here to ask if you would like to contribute to the Salem Witches' Institute?"

Walden tried to get by the women blocking his way, and said rather shortly, "No thank you, I'm sure your historical society is all well and good, but I want nothing to do with it. 300 years ago, little girls with fake stories, I mean really this is-"

"Oh but sir," the woman said , "Surely you know about us, what our mission is. I'm sure your brother-in-law has told you about us." The other women all seemed to be taken aback by his comment, whispering to themselves about fake stories.

Ritchie, Walden thought, of course this would have to do with that kook. These women probably all belonged in the looney bin. "No I have not, and I will thank you to move aside and let me into my home!" Walden said through gritted teeth. The women seemed to get the message and stepped aside, allowing him to get into his house. He walked through the door, put his coat on the hook and his briefcase down, and let out a sigh of relief. Finally a bit of sanity he thought.

"Darling," his wife Jean said as she kissed him on the cheek. "Who were those women?"

"A bunch of friends of my idiot brother-in-law." Walden said loathingly.

"Oh, Ritchie isn't all that bad dear, just... different." Jean was unlike Walden, more accepting of Ritchie and strange people like him. She was a tiny woman, only about 5'4", with blonde shoulder length hair that was as neat and orderly as her husband's hair. That was one thing that she and her husband agreed on, order. She kept a tight ship, everything in her house had a place, and a place for everything. She had a good sense of humor though, and enjoyed staying home and taking care of her twin children, although she did miss her work as a professor of mathematics at the University from time to time. She planned to return to the school when the children were a bit older. "Now go say hello to your children, they have missed you terribly."

Walden walked over to his children with a smile on his face. They were his greatest joy, and the only two people on the Earth who could be as silly as they wanted and he would not mind. He picked up little Clara, and kissed her on the forehead. She had blond hair like her mother. She giggled as his mustache tickled her, and he laughed as well. She rubbed her hands on his face, and kissed him back on his nose. He chuckled to himself as he put her back down and went to look for her brother. He found him playing in the nursery, with a toy he did not recognize.

"What have you got there son?" He kneeled down and looked at the dancing bear Roger was playing with. It certainly looked like a teddy bear his sister had sent to Roger on his first birthday back in August, but he didn't remember that it needed batteries or could dance. It was quite the elaborate dance too, like nothing he had ever seen a toy do before. Roger was giggling as the bear waved its arms in the air, jumped into a headstand, then did a backflip before dropping to the ground and spinning to rest on his elbow. It was like a routine he would have seen a breakdancer doing for the tourists in the city. He shook his head in amazement. "What will they think of next, eh Roger?" Roger was a small child, smaller than his sister. He would bulk up though, be big and strong like his father Walden thought. He had jet black hair, darker than his father's hair. He laughed as he reached down to pick up Roger.

As he took Roger into his arms, his son went to hug his father. He moved a little quick though and accidentally hit his head with his father's. Tears began to well up in his eyes and he began to whimper and cry from the pain, and Walden held his son close to him and patted his back. Had he looked down, he would have noticed that the bear was no longer dancing, but also looked as though he were crying. Thankfully Walden missed this and brought his crying son into the other room where Jean was waiting with open arms to hug and kiss her son to make things all better.

After dinner and putting the children to bed, Walden and Jean sat on the couch to watch some television before getting ready for bed themselves. As they watched the same game shows they watched every night, Walden began to think about those strange women he had dealt with earlier that evening.

"You know, I have lived in this city for many years now, but I don't think I have ever heard of a Salem Witches' Institute." Walden said while stroking his mustache.

"Neither have I now that you mention it. You said they knew Ritchie though, why not ask him about it?"

"I'd rather not have to deal with that man, you know he drives me insane. Don't know what my sister sees in him."

"She loves him dear, you can see it in the way she looks at him. He may be a bit odd, but no offense dear, your sister does seem like a perfect match for him."

Walden let out a little humph, "Well, she is not like me, that's for sure. Still, she is my sister and I love her. Maybe I will ask her some time."

"It has been some time since we saw them, and it would be good for Clara and Roger to play with their cousin Jacob. Maybe they could stop by or we go see them this weekend."

"Maybe." Walden said while yawning, thinking bedtime must be getting close. "Speaking of my sister, where did she get that toy bear? I never knew it could do all those things."

Jean had a confused look on her face. "What do you mean? It's just a teddy bear, it doesn't do anything."

Walden scrunched up his nose. "What do you mean? I saw it today, it was doing this whole dance thing, I had never seen a toy like it."

Jean shook her head. "I have no idea what you are talking about dear, Roger doesn't have any toy like that. I think maybe it's time for bed, you must have been dreaming, you had a long day at work."

Walden gave her a sideways look. Had he imagined the entire thing? That couldn't be it, he had no imagination. He did not like this, not one bit. It made no sense, and things should always make sense in Walden's world. He shook his head, agreeing that maybe it was time for bed. He patted her on the knee, got up, and walked to the nursery to check on the twins. He opened the door slowly to keep from waking them, and smiled as they slept peacefully in their cribs. Had he let his eyes adjust to the darkness more, he might have noticed that a teddy bear was also in a sleeping position next to his son, but for Walden's sanity, it was good that he missed it.

It was also good that he did not look outside of his window at that time, for standing outside his house was the old woman from this evening, along with a man also wearing a robe. He had a white beard, kept short but untidy. His hair was equally untidy, sticking out from his long hat in several places. Walden would have been horrified to see someone so unkempt, especially someone of such advanced years. The woman had a piece of parchment and a quill in her hand, and was taking down notes.

"Well Mr. Jorkins, it seems young Mr. Rookwoods is discovering his new powers. Do you think his father will be able to accept the truth?" The older witch said, with a quiver of doubt in her voice.

"Oh Septima, I would not worry about that." Hugo Jorkins said, as he stroked his white beard. His New York accent gave away the fact that he was not from around Salem, and was in fact visiting his old friend Septima Cattermole.

"I will thank you to call me Senator Cattermole, Hugo," Septima said with a small smile, only noticeable if one was looking hard. "Well I hope you are correct, but he still has his Uncle. Ritchie has a good head on his shoulders, and has done good work for MACUSA. Remember that problem we had with that rogue Sasquatch last year, Ritchie helped talk that down before we had a new Sasquatch Rebellion on our hands."

Hugo nodded his head, and looked toward the house. "That is true, and his cousin Jacob will be in the same class as him at Ilvermorny, he can help him to adjust to our world. I trust our new headmaster, Sybill Brown. She was a wonderful professor of Charms for many years, she will be equally wonderful leading our future." He looked up the road, into the darkness. He could have sworn he saw someone watching them.

"What is it Hugo?"

"I'm not sure," Hugo said as he pulled out his wand. "Lumos." The tip of his wand lit up, just in time to see a quick shadow run into the nearby woods.

Concerned, Septima said "Hugo, if that was a No-Maj, if he saw us-"

"Then he will just have seen two people going for an evening stroll with a rather odd flashlight. He was too far away to be able to hear what we said." He sighed, and put away his wand. "Nevertheless, perhaps it is time for us to go." He could see that the Senator was not as convinced as he was. "If it will make you feel better Septima, I will try to find him, but perhaps it will be easier in a different form." Anyone walking down the street would have been quite shocked at what they saw next, for Hugo's body began to transform, his arms turning to wings, his eyes growing larger as he became an owl. Septima watched as he flew into the woods, and she held her parchment close to her.

"I hope you're right Hugo," She wrapped her robe tighter, noting that the night seemed to have grown colder quickly. The leaves rustled through the street, and she still could not shake the feeling she was being watched. "I hope you're right."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **The Odd Clothed Man**

Roger felt the warm breeze on his face as he stood at the top of the hill with his bike. Summer had finally arrived, school was out, and his 11th birthday was exactly 7 weeks away. Life was good, except for one thing. He was the shortest, scrawniest kid in his class. That wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that his father was so big and strong, looking like he could bench press 500 pounds without breaking a sweat. Roger on the other hand had a hard time lifting his backpack if he had all his textbooks in it. He shook his long black hair out of his eyes, another disappointment to his father. He felt as though he let his father down in many ways. He didn't mean to, but compared to his twin sister, he was Pluto to her Sun. She was the bright shining center of everything, and he was the dwarf planet left in her shadow.

It didn't help that he kept getting into trouble for things he didn't even do. Strange things just seemed to happen to him. His first day of school he was playing with blocks when Billy Simpkins pushed his creation over, pushed him down and laughed at him as Roger hit his head on the floor and cried out. He sat up and glared at him, but when Billy fell over because his shoes were suddenly tied together, somehow he got blamed for it. It was always that way for him, unexplainable things would occur around him and he got called out for it. His only friend was his cousin Jacob. He would try to explain these things to him, and Jacob would just change the subject. Roger wasn't sure why, but he felt Jacob wanted to say more but couldn't. It didn't matter now though, it was summer and he was free.

"You ready?" His cousin Jacob was standing beside him, waiting for Roger to catch his breath. Jacob was a bit taller then Roger, with reddish auburn hair. It was a more traditional cut, something that his father might have approved of. Roger nodded his head, and the two were off down the hill, racing each other and laughing the whole way. They skidded around a corner and stopped seeing a moving van at the house down the road from his. "You didn't tell me you had new neighbours."

"Didn't know I did." Roger said. The two got off their bikes and walked toward the moving van. The peaked around, looking at the new neighbors while trying not to look like they were. Coming out of the house was a rather tall man, about the same age as his father if he had to guess. He was rather oddly dressed, almost like a stereotypical badly dressed dad. He went to grab a box, and noticed the two boys walking by, to which he smiled and waved. The two boys, knowing their terrible cover was blown, waved back.

"Hello boys, how are you?"

"Eh, ummm..fine." Roger never knew what to say when meeting new people. Especially one who was dressed the way this man was. He had on a Hawaiian shirt, jean shorts, and long socks with sandals. Roger tried to look past it as the man reached out to shake his hand.

"Good, good. New to the neighbourhood, as you can see. Just moved here with my family, bit closer to my new job. Going to be a Professor, my daughter will be there too, being her first year." The man must have gotten a job at the University Roger thought, same place as his mother. He was about to ask if he knew her when he saw a young girl about his age walk out the door. She had blond wavy hair that went down to the middle of her back. She was at least dressed like a normal person, clearly none of her father's odder choices had gone to her. She stopped when she saw them, smiled and waved. He gave a quick wave, and put his hand down fast. If strangers made him uneasy, strange girls made him even more uneasy.

"Hello, how are you? My name is Jeannette, what's your name?"

"Ummmmmmmm…." The entire English language escaped him at that exact moment. He wasn't even sure of his name anymore.

"His name is Roger, my name is Jacob. We're cousins, nice to meet you." Roger gave a quick nod and coughed. Suddenly his throat felt very dry, and he couldn't swallow. Jeannette hid a laugh, and smiled at him.

"It is a bit warm out here, let me get you a drink. Come inside, you can meet my mom."

Jacob gave him a quick elbow and pointed to the boxes. Roger got the hint and grabbed one of the boxes, as did Jacob, and they walked in. The place was nice, but he couldn't help but notice some of the odd furniture inside. Some of the pots and pans almost looked like cauldrons, he noticed they didn't have a television, but figured that might still be on the moving van. They set the boxes on the counter, and Roger noticed the box had slightly opened. Inside were family photos. They must have been on vacation to Salem before, they were dressed a bit like the tourists that came around every October to celebrate the town's history of witchcraft. He thought it was a little odd though, he didn't see any other children besides Jeannette in the picture. Didn't his father say he had a daughter starting at the school he would be a Professor at? He looked to ask Jeannette when he had to do a double take. Did that picture just move? He shook his head, must have been his imagination. That was when an attractive woman about his own mother's age walked into the room. She also had blond wavy hair like Jeannette, and he figured this had to be her mother.

"Oh, hello, you must be our neighbours. My name is Jennifer, nice to meet you." Roger and Jacob both smiled and shook her hand. "You must have met the rest of my family already."

"Well we met your husband and daughter, but we haven't met your other daughter yet."

Jennifer gave Roger a puzzled look. "Other daughter. I don't have any other daughter, I don't have any other children actually."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought your husband said he was going to be teaching at the same school as your daughter, and I assumed it was at the University since he said he would be a Professor."

"I see, no no, he is going to be a Professor at a private school nearby."

Roger was a little disappointed, he was hoping Jeannette might be in his class at school. "Oh cool, where is this school?"

"It's ummm, it's in the mountains, near Adams, few hours from here."

Roger was really confused now, there was no way a school was on Mount Greylock. He was about to ask her when Jacob changed the subject. "Do you mind if Jeannette come with us for a bit, show her around town?" Roger looked sideways at Jacob, as if to say 'What are you doing!?' He didn't know how to talk to a girl, he almost had died just now, let alone try to talk to her for an entire afternoon.

"Mom, would that be okay?" Jeannette asked her mom, and she smiled at Jacob. "I can help you with moving in when I get back later."

"I suppose that will be okay, don't get into any trouble okay?" She laughed as she said it, but Roger still thought it was a bit of an odd thing to say. Was this girl a troublemaker. He wasn't sure if his father would like him hanging out with a rule breaker.

"I know Mom, I swear I will not do anything like that, I'm not a Dorcus." Roger squinted his eyes at that. Must have been a saying from wherever they lived before. He shrugged it off and the three of them left. They waved at her father, and they went back to their bikes. "Oh, I actually don't have a bike. Never learned really."

This family was odd that was for sure. "That's okay," Roger said. "My house is just down here, we can drop off the bikes and just walk into town." They dropped off the bikes and walked down the streets, getting to know one another. The decided to go to a local ice cream stand to get something cold on this hot day. Jeannette asked if they served something that sounded like butter scotch or butter root beer, and Roger was about to ask her what flavor when Jacob cleared his throat and changed the subject. He was starting to get really annoyed with this habit of Jacobs, but he shrugged it off again. When they reached the ice cream place, and they all had their individual cones, they walked to the nearby park to have them and talk.

"So, what do you think of the town so far Jeannette?" Roger asked.

"It's nice, I do like it. Bit different than where I grew up. I'm from New York originally, well just a little outside the city. My dad used to work for the government there, but decided he would like a change of scenery when this new job opened up. Salem is cool though, the history of it, the tragedy."

"Yeah, so many people died needlessly. I mean, they actually believed in witches and magic back then, can you believe it?" Roger laughed, but noticed that Jeannette and Jacob both just gave him a kind of weak smile. "Oh, don't tell me you two believe in magic?"

Jeannette looked like she was about to say something when Jacob spoke first. "No, of course not. Just… I think there is a lot of stuff we don't know in this world. I think we ju- Oh great, this idiot." Roger turned his head and saw what Jacob was talking about. It was Billy Simpkins and his idiot friends, brothers Sean and Patrick Finnegan. Billy had been giving Roger and Jacob problems since his first day of school.

"Hey dorks, what are you doing? Why don't you two get out of this place and let me get to know this chick?" Sean and Patrick both laughed like Billy had said something genius, but Jeannette just glared at the three of them.

"Yeah, I think this 'chick' is all set, thaaaanks." Jeannette got up to leave but Billy pushed her back down.

"I don't think you understand, these two are the losers of this town. If you want to make it around here, you'll want to get to know me. Why are you two still here by the way, I thought I told you to leave."

"Okay, number one: DO NOT EVER _EVER_ TOUCH ME AGAIN! WE HAVE THAT STRAIGHT?" Jeannette had a fury in her eyes that both scared and excited Roger. He had never seen anyone stand up to Billy like this before. "Second: You do not want to mess with me, okay? I can do things to you that you cannot even imagine. Third _and_ final: _I_ am leaving, _you_ and the gang of morons will stand her dumbfounded, and _I_ will have a good day. Goodbye!"

Roger and Jacob both stood there awestruck. They had never seen anything so amazing. Roger couldn't help it, he started to laugh. He had wanted someone to stand up to this man for years, and this girl did it on her first day in town. He loved this girl! Billy's face was turning a dark maroon, his fists were shaking, and had Roger noticed he might have stopped laughing, but he couldn't because his eyes were closed from laughing so hard. He did notice when Billy's fist crashed into the side of his head. He crashed to the ground with an intense pain in his head. He just lay there for a minute trying to figure out where he was, and what had just happened. He got to one knee and reached to feel his face. It was already starting to swell and the pain was pulsating from it. Normally Roger might have cried, Billy would have laughed, and things would have gone normal. Not today though, Jeannette had inspired him. He got up, clinched his fist, and swung at Billy completely missing him. This set Billy and the two idiots into a laughing fit, doubling over and tears coming out of their eyes.

"Roger, come on, let's just go while they are distracted and we can get away. That was amazing that you stood up to them, but let's go, _now_." Jacob was urging him along, and Jeannette looked horrified and furious.

"Oh, don't think we're done with you yet. Tell you what, I'll give you another shot, right here," Billy was sticking his chin out and pointing to it. "I won't move, you have a free shot, let's see if you can get even close to my body this time."

Roger should have walked away, he couldn't even see out of his right eye the pain and swelling was so great. He looked down at his shoes, took a couple of deep breaths and looked at Billy out of his left eye. He just wished someone would give this guy what he had coming to him, maybe the biggest atomic wedgie or a purple nurple was what this guy really needed. Billy was still laughing and pointing at his chin when he got a funny look on his face. First it was confusion, then pain. He let out a scream and looked behind him. He swung around, trying to hit someone that wasn't there while still yelling out in agony. Sean and Patrick both looked more confused than usual, and backed away. That was when Roger noticed that Billy's underwear was now being pulled up by an invisible force, and he was getting the worst wedgie that he had ever seen. Billy was now grabbing at his chest and swatting at an invisible force that Roger assumed was giving him the purple nurple he had hoped for. He was so confused as to what was happening, but he had to admit, he was happy about it. Enough so that he was starting to forget about the pain in his head.

"Let's get out of here, help me you idiots!" Sean and Patrick ran up to him and put an arm around each of their shoulders and they all ran off. Roger couldn't believe it, and he had no idea what had happened, but it had been awesome!

"What was that! Did that really happen, or was I imagining things?" Roger looked at both Jacob and Jeannette, hoping to get some sort of confirmation that he wasn't crazy.

"Hold on, wait a minute." Jeannette had both of her hands out, and was staring at Roger. "Why did you not tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Roger was rubbing the side of face, the pain was quickly returning to him, and his head was spinning.

"You didn't tell me that you were a wiz-"

"Hey, yeah, we have to get some ice on that face of yours Roger. Let's get you back home quick!" Jacob ran over and put Roger's arm around his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah okay. What were you asking me Jeannette?" Roger was really starting to feel dizzy now, and the pain was starting to get really bad.

"I just can't believe you didn't tell me," Jeannette was talking fast, excited and stammering. "I mean, what with your whole no magic talk earlier, but that was just a cover. I knew Salem had a big community of us, but I didn't expect to meet someone my first day, let alone live just down the road. I have a million questions. Will you be going to Ilver-" Roger didn't hear anything else Jeannette said, as everything went black and he crashed to the ground.


End file.
